Whisky Advent Calendar Part 1 (Dec. 1st to 6th)

The first six days of December are over and despite having the flu for the second time in a very short period of time I managed to get to part one of my Whisky Advent Calendar summary.

The first 6 Whiskies of the Advent Calendar

December 1st - Irish Single Malt Whiskey 5yo

As I mentioned on Twitter, there is no additional information on this Whiskey except that it is from Ireland and is bottled with 41% abv. There are indeed not to many Irish Whiskey distilleries on the island but to find the one this particular Whiskey is made from is nearly impossible without help with some "reference" Whiskeys from there. At least I am sure it's not Connemara because they peat their Whiskey and this one isn't. It's just a typical Irish Whiskey, nothing fancy.

My Tastingnotes

Age: 5yo

ABV: 41%

 

Distillery: no information, but Irish

Colour: light golden

Nose: fruity and floral notes with some new make, hints of vanilla and lemon paired with some very faint oak notes.

Body: very full

Palate: Toffee and marzipan combined with some oak wood and ginger(?)

Finish: long and warming finish

My points: 68

December 2nd - Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Just as the first Whiskey no additional information is available. From the name we know that this Whiskey must be from the U.S. to be precise from the state Kentucky. It was distilled there and aged for at least one year in Kentucky (as stated in the U.S. law). Of course it has to be made from at least 51% corn. If you take a look at the website of the "Kentucky Distillers Association" you might be surprised how much Distilleries can be found in Kentucky. So again, no chance to find the right one without any help. This is again just a typical Whiskey from that region.

My Tastingnotes

Age: >1yo

ABV: 40%

Distillery: no information, but American

Colour: amber (but probably coloured)

Nose: Banana, some oak wood, fresh

Body: a little bit flat

Palate: Rye, some more oak wood, hints of vanilla and coffee(?)

Finish: quite short

My points: 50

December 3rd - Scotch Speyside Single Malt Whisky Glentauchers Distillery

The first scotch of the season and the first with a heritage. This 6 year old Whisky was made by the Glentauchers Distillery. This distillery - located near Keith - is not known to many. That is because the Whisky produced there is manly for blends made by Pernod Ricard. In 2000 the company presented the first bottling from the distillery itself a 15 year old Single Malt. However there are some bottlings from independent bottlers available (like the 63.33 I tasted from the SMWS-AT). The capacity of the distillery is 4.2m litres alcohol per annum. This is unquestionable a Scottish Whisky by taste. Not as interesting as the 63.33 but not bad either.

My Tastingnotes

Age: 6yo

ABV: 43%

Distillery: Glentauchers

Colour: light amber

Nose: Toffee with some butterscotch and lemons, very floral

Body: smooth and round

Palate: lots of toffee, some spices, maybe some very light oak flavours

Finish: long and warming

My points: 71

December 4th - Scotch Islay Blended Malt Whisky "Cragabus"

Technically the name is a stretch because according to the SWA there are only two categories left for scotch Whisky and they are "Single Malt" and "Blended". Before the change there was another one called "Vatted Malt". As many of you know the difference, here a short overview for those who don't. Single Malt = One Distillery, only Single Malts used for the blending. Vatted Malt = More Distilleries, only Single Malts used for blending. Blended = More Distilleries, Single Malts and Grain Whisky used for blending. The latter two categories were merged by the SWA. According to my research this Whisky is made of Single Malts from the following Islay distilleries: Laphroaig, Caol Ila, Bowmore and Arbeg. And in addition there is some Single Malt from the lost distillery Port Ellen in it too! I guess they try to fit in this blend the "whole Islay" but unfortunately I think this is not possible. Islay is much more than "smoky and intense". By the way "Cragabus" is the name of a small village on Islay.

My Tastingnotes

Age: n.a.s.

ABV: 43%

 

Distillery: Laphroaig, Caol Ila, Bowmore, Ardbeg, Port Ellen

Colour: light golden

Nose: Smoked meat, iodine, charred peat, hints of toffee

Body: full but very simple

Palate: still meat and peat, some salty notes, in the end there may or may not be some toffee

Finish: long and warming

My points: 67

December 5th - Scotch Speyside Blended Malt Whisky "Mac Spey"

Same as the day before technically it's "just" a blend. This Whisky was blended by Stewart Laing - just as the Whisky on Dec. 4th - but this time only using Malts produced by Speyside distilleries like Glen Rothes, Macallan and Balvenie! There may be others used but these three were named in the description. Also they tell us that the Whisky is 10 years old meaning the youngest Whisky used was 10 years old. There may be older Whiskies in it, but according to the SWA a distillery/blender/bottler is not allowed to tell. Just search for "Compass Box" and "SWA" if you want to know what happens if you do it anyway. I'd like the move from Compass Box (and Tomatin!) for more transparency. I just hope the SWA will see the benefits as these two companies (and lot's of others I guess) see them.

My Tastingnotes

Age: 10yo

ABV: 41%

Distillery: various including Glen Rothes, Macallan and Balvenie

Colour: light amber

Nose: fruity, apple and lemons, a slight hint of smoke, a little bit dry

Body: mild but full

Palate: Toffee with some lemons and hints of oak wood in the end

Finish: quite long and warming

My points: 71

December 6th - Scotch Isle of Jura Single Malt Whisky

This time it is no problem that no specific name is given. There is only one distillery on Jura so guess from where the Whisky must be. The distillery was founded in 1810 but the distillery we know today (and is capable of producing 2.2m litres alcohol per annum) was built in the late 1950s and finished in 1963. The distillery might be known for their distinctive bottle which looks a little bit like a cello. The island has just one road, one pub and one distillery. If you visit the distillery you will get a dram of whisky for life in the pub once a month but always remember the words of George Orwell back from 1946 regarding how to reach Jura: "Extremely unget-at-able". According to my research this hasn't changed very much today. You will need to take a boat ride to get to the island (surprise!) and to get there from London you will need to board to planes!

My Tastingnotes

Age: 9yo

ABV: 43%

Distillery: Jura

Colour: light golden

Nose: Bacon and sweet from toffee, some iodine and seaweed, reminds me of the 66.62 from the SMWS

Body: full and complex

Palate: Salt and the sea, some citric notes and hints of sweetness

Finish: very long and warming

My points: 75

That's it for this week. I hope you enjoyed the little endeavour into the realms of Whisk(e)y, the second Part of my summary will go online on December 13th!

Slàinte,
Lukas

Whisky Advent Calendar from "vomFaß"

Yesterday just before the Laphroaig tasting at "The Highlander" with the Whisky Consultants (maybe stuff for another post) I went to "vomFaß" to get my "Whisky Advent Calendar 2015". I've heard about this last year in mid November but unfortunately all were gone by that time. This year I set a reminder on my phone and called ahead to reserve one.

I know that this is nothing new to many people and I know that there are many different calendars with Whisky out in the wild but I decided to go with this particular Advent Calendar mainly to support a local business (I know that this is an international business but it is operated as a franchise locally). It may not be the most beautiful one in the world (although it is very nicely made and I like the simple design) and there may be better one's but I can remember talking to "The Whisky Dramalista" (@whiskyrepublic on Twitter) in London and he said - as I mentioned earlier on the blog - that Whisky tasting is as much about taste as about history and (personal) stories.

So another reason to try their calendar is a personal story I have with them. I had my very first Whisky tasting there. It was a present from my best friend and buddy Peter. Well sort of a "tasting" because we went there after work and had just half an hour for the tasting. And we had six Whiskies. Should I mention that the rest of our way home was quite funny? But with this tasting my transition from a "Blended Whisky (sometimes even with coke) drinker" to a "Whisky Connoisseur" started.

They tend to have less mainstream and unknown Whiskies. I can remember that I tasted back then (must have been around 2009 or so) a Whisky from "BenNevis" a completely unknown distillery to me at this time. I can't even recall why I liked the Whisky but I do know why I picked it and that I liked it. The reason for picking this particular Whisky back than was that I thought the journey in the book "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" started at the mountain Ben Nevis. Which is of course wrong because it started in Island at the "Sneffels Yocul" as everybody who read the book (I did...) should recall. But at that time I was sure it was the Ben Nevis and looking back I'm happy that I made this mistake.

Interestingly the BenNevis is the only Whisky I recall from that tasting. I didn't make any notes back then... But in 2014 at a tasting from the Whisky Consultants there was a "BenNevis" on the tasting line and I was thrilled to see that Whisky bottled by the Single Cask Collection (an independent bottler from Austria!). It was a 18yo Whisky matured in a sherry butt and I liked it very much. In fact I bought a bottle right away and it is still in my Whisky cabinet.

If your are waiting for a list of the Whiskies you will be disappointed. I won't post the complete list here even that I have it (I won't look at it either because I want to be surprised too). Instead I will twitter every day in the morning (GMT) before going to work the "Whisky of the Day" and in the evening after work a short statement about it. And every Sunday I'll update my blog with some more in depth tasting notes from the Whiskies from the last week. Of course with some pictures and everything.

Slàinte,
Lukas